1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to conversion of used cell phones into new electronic devices that use features of the cell phone generally not related to placement and reception of telephone calls.
2. Description of Related Art
In the past few years, there have been several advancements in cell phone technology that are quickly rendering current cell phones in the market obsolete. Specifically, many new cell phone models are being developed or are currently on the market that integrate various other useful devices together with the more traditional features of cell phones. For example, features from personal digital assistants or PDAs are now being added to cell phones or vice versa to thereby provide a more integrated information source for the user. Further, cell phones now include features that allow a user to browse the Internet, send email, take pictures, play games, etc. These new features are highly desirable and many cell phones currently in use are and are expected to be replaced by this next generation of cell phones.
Disposal of obsolete cell phones is becoming a major concern for many cell phone manufacturers. In fact, there has been considerable time and effort spent to find ways of recycling and/or refurbishing of cell phones to prevent their wholesale disposal. For example, there are some companies that collect older cell phones, refurbish them, and then ship them to other countries for resale. Refurbishment typically involves only cosmetic changes to the phone, such as replacing the outer housing, keypad, and/or display of the phone such that the phone will be marketable in a selected area. In some instances, the refurbisher may replace some of the electronic components of the cell phone also. While refurbishment is a viable solution, there are issues associated with this industry. Specifically, many refurbishers are not associated with the cell phone manufacturers. As such, the cell phone manufacturer cannot ensure quality control with regard to the refurbishment. If the refurbished phones experience quality issues, these may be wrongly imparted by the customer to the cell phone manufacturer. Further, because there is little or no nexus between the cell phone manufacturer and the refurbisher, the refurbisher may inadvertently use replacement components that may be inferior or cause damage to the cell phone such as shorts or over heating.
There have also been efforts to recycle cell phones at end of life. Specifically, cell phones include some precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, etc. in sufficient quantities to make recycling of these metals, as well as the plastic in the cell phone, worthwhile. However, the recycling costs typically outweigh the money received from the sale of these recycled products. Further, there are some portions of the cell phone that do not lend themselves to recycling. In addition to extraction of precious metals and plastics, there are various non-proprietary electronic components in cell phones that can be used in other electronic devices without modification, such as memory chips, general processors, etc. Here again, there are associated costs with recovery of the components and not all components can be recycled, especially those proprietary to the cell phone manufacturer. The largest concern with recycling is the battery packs, which have various environmental issues related to their disposal.
In light of the above, it is readily apparent that new procedures and methods are needed for recycling of cell phones. In particular, procedures methods are needed that are cost effective, while at the same time make use of as many components of the cell phone as possible.